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Yandex Suspends Sasovo Data Center After Drone Fire

By Drooid · Oct 8, 2026, 4:34 PM UTC · How we work

Summary

Yandex Data Center Shutdown

Yandex suspended operations at its Sasovo data center after a Ukrainian drone strike caused a fire.
It was the first confirmed Ukrainian drone attack on a Russian data hub since the 2022 invasion.
Yandex said core services like search and taxi stayed operational despite the outage.
Shares fell over 3.4% in early Thursday trading on the Moscow Exchange.

Summary

Sasta Plant Sanctioned

Governor Pavel Malkov said regional air defenses shot down two drones during a night-time attack.
The Sasta machine-tool plant, co-located with Yandex’s data centre, supplies CNC machines for Russia’s missile and aerospace programs.
The plant is listed in Russia’s defence-industry register and faces sanctions from the EU, US, UK, Canada and others.
Yandex blurred the locations of four Russian data centres on its mapping service after the attack.

History

Historical Context

In 2010, the Stuxnet worm—allegedly created by the United States and Israel—sabotaged Iran’s Natanz uranium-enrichment plant, physically destroying centrifuges. The attack infected roughly 100,000 computers worldwide and cost an estimated $10 million to develop, according to cybersecurity analysts. Similarly, the Ukrainian drone strike on Yandex’s Sasovo data centre—adjacent to the Sasta CNC plant supporting Russia’s missile programs—demonstrates how physical attacks now target digital infrastructure in wartime. These incidents underscore that modern conflicts blur cyber and kinetic fronts, prompting governments to harden data hubs and reassess defense-industry supply chains.

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Yandex Data Center Shutdown

Yandex suspended operations at its Sasovo data center after a Ukrainian drone strike caused a fire.
It was the first confirmed Ukrainian drone attack on a Russian data hub since the 2022 invasion.
Yandex said core services like search and taxi stayed operational despite the outage.
Shares fell over 3.4% in early Thursday trading on the Moscow Exchange.

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